Book Description

During the Second World War, the campaign in Italy was the most destructive fought in Europe – a long, bitter and highly attritional conflict that raged up the country’s mountainous leg. For frontline troops, casualty rates at Cassino and along the notorious Gothic Line were as high as they had been on the Western Front in the First World War. There were further similarities too: blasted landscapes, rain and mud, and months on end with the front line barely moving.

And while the Allies and Germans were fighting it out through the mountains, the Italians were engaging in bitter battles too. Partisans were carrying out a crippling resistance campaign against the German troops but also battling the Fascists forces as well in what soon became a bloody civil war. Around them, innocent civilians tried to live through the carnage, terror and anarchy, while in the wake of the Allied advance, horrific numbers of impoverished and starving people were left to pick their way through the ruins of their homes and country. In the German-occupied north, there were more than 700 civilian massacres by German and Fascist troops in retaliation for Partisan activities, while in the south, many found themselves forced into making terrible and heart-rending decisions in order to survive.

Although known as a land of beauty and for the richness of its culture, Italy’s suffering in 1944-1945 is now largely forgotten. This is the first account of the conflict there to tell the story from all sides and to include the experiences of soldiers and civilians alike. Offering extensive original research, it weaves together the drama and tragedy of that terrible year, including new perspectives and material on some of the most debated episodes to have emerged from the Second World War.

During the Second World War, the campaign in Italy was the most destructive fought in Europe – a long, bitter and highly attritional conflict that raged up the country’s mountainous leg. For frontline troops, casualty rates at Cassino and along the notorious Gothic Line were as high as they had been on the Western Front in the First World War. There were further similarities too: blasted landscapes, rain and mud, and months on end with the front line barely moving.

And while the Allies and Germans were fighting it out through the mountains, the Italians were engaging in bitter battles too. Partisans were carrying out a crippling resistance campaign against the German troops but also battling the Fascists forces as well in what soon became a bloody civil war. Around them, innocent civilians tried to live through the carnage, terror and anarchy, while in the wake of the Allied advance, horrific numbers of impoverished and starving people were left to pick their way through the ruins of their homes and country. In the German-occupied north, there were more than 700 civilian massacres by German and Fascist troops in retaliation for Partisan activities, while in the south, many found themselves forced into making terrible and heart-rending decisions in order to survive.

Although known as a land of beauty and for the richness of its culture, Italy’s suffering in 1944-1945 is now largely forgotten. This is the first account of the conflict there to tell the story from all sides and to include the experiences of soldiers and civilians alike. Offering extensive original research, it weaves together the drama and tragedy of that terrible year, including new perspectives and material on some of the most debated episodes to have emerged from the Second World War.

During the course of the past few years, historians and publishers have shown a renewed interest in World War II. The popularity of Ken Burns’ recent documentary The War is evidence that the general public is still fascinated by this iconic twentieth-century conflict. Though much has been written about the war in Europe, comprehensive treatments of the Italian campaign are far outnumbered by the vast array of books that document D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, and the race across Western Europe to Berlin. Holland attempts to fill the void with this meticulously researched history of the final year of the war in Italy. Readers new to this subject may be surprised to learn of the tremendous havoc and destruction wreaked upon Italy during 1944 and 1945; those more familiar with martial history will welcome this inclusive chronicle of the Allied, German, and Partisan campaigns in both the south and the north of the Italian peninsula. --Margaret Flanagan

I've never read anything by James Holland before. Apparently I'm going to have to get used to historians (to say nothing of a President) who are younger than I, which is something of a jarring experience. The current book, however, is a well-researched, well-written account of the course of the campaign in Italy, basically from the last battle of Cassino up through the end of the war. The author spends a lot of time (more than used to be the fashion) discussing the impact of the war on civilians, and he also spends a lot of time discussing the lives of individual soldiers on both sides of the lines.

Cassino was one of the most frustrating battles of the war, for the Allies, and the author starts with it, recounting briefly the earlier battles, then recounting in considerable detail the successful attack by the Poles. He also spends a lot of time talking about the famous attack out of the Anzio bridgehead by Mark Clark's Fifth Army, and interestingly defends Clark's decision to turn towards Rome and capture it, as opposed to moving to the fabled Valmontane, where Alexander had ordered him to go. Holland discusses this incident, and the produces a map which shows the main German retreat routes from the Cassino front. Only one of them goes through Valmontane, and the author lets you know this was an alternate, less-important, route. The four further north, out of reach of Clark's forces no matter what he did, were the significant ones. Very interesting thesis.

That, in some ways, was the highlight of the book. There's a great deal of information here about various forces and battles, later in the campaign, and much of the information is very well-presented and the judgements are thoughtful. There isn't, however, anything in the way of ground-breaking scholarship for the rest of the book.

I did have a few misgivings. At times Holland's understanding of military technology seems a bit weak. One passage includes a discussion of something called an "Ofenrohre". I'm not the world's greatest expert on German militaria, but I know a lot of other amateur experts, and none of us had ever heard the term. It turns out "Ofenrohre" means "stovepipe" in German, and that this was the nickname for the Panzerschrek. *That* we would have understood, but he didn't include the name in the text or anywhere else. At other points he seems to get confused about gun calibers and things of that nature. He also has an odd habit of referencing U.S. Infantry divisions by their divisional nicknames, and occasionally getting them a bit wrong. So for instance, he refers to the 92nd "Buffalo" Division, when of course it should be (if you're going to do it this way) the 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" Division. The term "Buffalo Soldier" traces back to the Indian wars, when said Indians thought a black person's hair looked like buffalo fur.

Those few misgivings aside, this is an interesting, well-written book. It includes a considerable amount of information, and the text is well-illustrated by enough maps for you to follow the action as to what's going on. I really enjoyed the book, and would recommend it.Read more ›

Italy's Sorrow is the story of the often forgotten Italian campaign in WWII. Despite Soviet calls for a "second front" from 1942, somehow the 1943 invasion of Sicily, and subsequent slog up the Italian peninsula, did not even count as a second front in WWII, despite tying up a large number of German troops, especially after the Italian surrender, and then switching sides to fight alongside the Allies.

Nonetheless, the war in Italy was an important part of WWII, and James Holland tells the story well. All sides of the conflict are covered off - the Allied forces, including Free French and Polish troops as well as the GI's and Brits, and the German defenders under Kesselring, with the Italian people caught in the middle, whether as partisans, auxliaries to one side or other, or civilians.

The campaign is analysed from a military standpoint, but the impact on Italy itself is never overlooked. In Masters and Commanders and The Storm of War Andrew Roberts questioned the value of the Italian front after the capture of Rome, but Holland never considers the question - it is clear that to leave simply half of Italy in German hands and settle into defensive positions was not an option for democracies who claimed to be fighting for freedom. German atrocities against Italians are detailed, and the impact of the Allies was at times scarcely less brutal, especially the French colonial Goums.

When reading about D-Day and the second battle of France, the impact on civilian life - the collateral damage, in today's terms - is made clear. What is also clear after reading Italy's Sorrow is that Italy suffered far worse - perhaps rightly, as a former Nazi ally - and that this suffering can largely be laid at the feet of Il Duce Mussolini himself. A case could probably be made that Nazi Germany might have been better off with Italy remaning a friendly neutral in WWII, trading with Germany but not co-belligerant with it. With no North Africa and Greece to ensnare German troops to rescue Italian adventurism, the Eastern push might have been quite different in 1941-42. Certainly Italy would have been better off without entry into WWII, which ended with much of the country in ruins and a popultion starved and shell shocked by war.Read more ›

I was in Italy during WWII. Came to the U.S. in 1948. I have always felt that historians had not given the trials that Italy suffered enough credence. This book told it all. Not only the loss to the U.S. and british soldiers, but the atrocities that the Germans commited to the Italians but also to the armies of the Allies..

My actual review for the book is 3.5, but overall having to choose I went with 4 stars. On the one hand the author does identify all the major players in the story (the Allies, Axis,conflicting Partisans and Italian political leadership, and the great tragedy of humanity suffered by the common Italian people in general and the Italian female population in particular) and provide a good picture of how these played out to cause "Italy's Sorrow". This is a much needed contribution to the story of WW2, as the Italian campaign after the Invasion of Normandy resulted in this significant part of WW2 largely being historically ignored. He did provide significant reference materials and the maps were very good I thought. While it did take some careful examination of these (the maps), they were available and did add appreciably to understanding how the campaign progressed. As my father served only in Italy, and my interest being in the Italian campaign post 6/6/44, this did very well meet my expectations in terms of relating the story.On the downside, the author gives, in my opinion, too much credit to Clark. In particular, relative to Clark's decision to ignore Alexander's orders at Anzio. Here the author offers some very valuable insight into the overall evaluation of Clark's performance, which did add to my understanding of Clark as a general. But, the author ignores Clark's performance in other aspects of his generalship such as the sacking of his immediate subordinate generals for Salerno and Anzio (when much if not most of the fault rested with Clark) and the extent to which he (Clark) seemed willing to ignore accepted military doctrine during the attempted Rapido River crossing because of not wanting the British to get any credit for the hoped for success. Thus, I believe he gave Clark a more favorable presentation than he really deserves. To a lesser degree, the author does not really go into any discussion at all of the Salerno landings (which began around 9/9/43) and were very heavily contested to the point the success of the invasion was seriously in question, and not much of a discussion of the campaign up until May 1944. Thus, there was only a Chapter on Anzio which was not very informative relative to the degree of desperation with which this battle was fought. But, as there are other good reference sources for most of these battles (except Salerno), I was OK without this information. Overall, I very much enjoyed the book. Although it was a bit depressing, the historical story - is what it is, and this is what I wanted to know. I would readily recommend this to others.Read more ›